July 14th

Focus On Israeli Premier Olmert\'s Family In Corruption Case
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur
July 14, 2008 - 1:46pm

JERUSALEM - Investigators in the corruption case against Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert\'s have turned their attention to his family amid allegations that they might have taken private trips abroad paid for with public funds, Israeli media reported on Sunday. Israeli police were considering summoning his four adult children and his wife Alisa over the allegations that Olmert financed their trips by receiving duplicate travel expenses from different public bodies.

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Hamas Says "no Offers" On Palestinian National Reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (kuna)
July 14, 2008 - 1:45pm

Palestinian Hamas movement denied on Monday receiving any offers concerning national Palestinian reconciliation. Hamas denied local news on an agreement among Palestinian factions on forming a technocrat government and allowing Arab forces to enter to supervise the reconstruction of the security bodies in Palestine.

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Olmert Says Palestinian Peace Deal Closer Than Ever
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - July 14, 2008 - 1:44pm

PARIS (Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinians have never been so close to a peace deal, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday after talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Olmert, talking up peace prospects as he clings to office in the face of new corruption allegations, told reporters problems still had to be overcome between the two sides and that it was time to make tough decisions.

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Israeli Prime Minister Arrives For Paris Summit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
July 14, 2008 - 1:42pm

PARIS - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrived in the French capital Sunday where he is to attend a Mediterranean Union summit and hold talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.  Abbas was expected to call on Olmert to speed up the peace process when they meet at the summit. French President Nicolas Sarkozy will host the meeting between the two leaders. It will be followed by a joint statement to the press.

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Palestinian Official: Swap Will Include 160 Fatah Bodies (roundup)
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur
July 14, 2008 - 1:41pm

Beirut - The head of the Palestinian Fatah movement in southern Lebanon said Sunday that the expected swap between Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla movement and Israel will include the bodies of Palestinian guerrillas who fell in Lebanon or carried out attacks inside Israeli territories during the 1970s. 'Among the bodies that Lebanon will retrieve from Israel as part of the expected swap, there will be 160 bodies of Fatah members, including the body of Dalal al Moghrabi,' Sultan abu al Anian said in the Palestinian camp of Rashidiyeh, east of Tyre.

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Obama Says He Used ‘poor Phrasing’ On Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 14, 2008 - 1:40pm

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said on Sunday he used "poor phrasing" in a speech supporting Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. "You know, the truth is that this was an example where we had some poor phrasing in the speech. And we immediately tried to correct the interpretation that was given," he said in an interview aired on Sunday on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria - GPS."

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Official: Obama To Visit West Bank, Meet Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
July 14, 2008 - 1:32pm

PARIS (AP) — A Palestinian official says Barack Obama will visit the West Bank and meet the Palestinian president during a swing through the Middle East next week. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says the Democratic presidential candidate will travel to Ramallah on July 23. He says Obama is scheduled to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Erekat says if Obama is elected, the Palestinians hope "he will stay the course between Israel and the Palestinians in reaching peace."

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July 13th

Coverage of Democratic Presidential nominee Barak Obama’s upcoming visit to Israel and the West Bank (1, 3). Fateh and Hamas officials express views on forming a Palestinian unity government (7, 10). Prime Minister Olmert continues diplomatic efforts (5, 6), while the corruption investigation is now involving his family members (8). More coverage of the prisoner swap negotiations (4, 11). Omar Karmi in the National reports on Middle East tensions in cyberspace (9), while Mohammad Omer reports on daily life in Gaza (2).

July 11th

Strengthening Israel’s Moral Center
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Week
by Jessica Montell And Mitchell Plitnick - July 11, 2008 - 2:51pm

Muhammad Abu Ayesha remembers his Jewish neighbors in Hebron fondly. They celebrated weddings together, and they comforted each other during times of mourning. In 1929 when some Arabs came to massacre the Jewish community, Muhammad's father sheltered Jews. His name has a place of pride in the "Book of Hebron," produced to commemorate the Jewish community.

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4 Israelis Arrested For Allegedly Selling Weapons To Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jack Khoury - July 11, 2008 - 2:49pm

Security forces last month arrested four Israeli citizens suspected of selling weapons to Palestinians, a gag order lifted on Friday revealed. The Shin Bet security service and the Galilee District Police arrested three residents of the northern village of Kafr Makr and a resident of Acre for allegedly carrying out the crime. The official complaint was lodged against the suspects on Friday, ahead of the indictment.

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